School’s out and the numbers are in.

Every school day, volunteers and staff from Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Community Services and The Salvation Army Caring Place prepare approximately 175 bagged lunches for school children in our communities. With the school year coming to a close, we are pleased to announce that over 28,000 bagged lunches were provided this year.

The school lunch bag program is 100% donation- and volunteer-driven. Major donors to the program this year included the Province of British Columbia Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, the Rotary Club of Haney and the Ed Coates Foundation. Lunches are prepared and packed by volunteers at The Salvation Army’s location on Lougheed Highway, and then delivered by volunteer drivers from Community Services to the schools each day. Once they arrive at the school, lunches are handed out by school staff to preserve the anonymity and dignity for the students.

The lunches are provided to children who are identified by school staff as not receiving adequate nutrition from home. One beneficiary of the program says, “[It helps] because mommy still has no job”. Proper, nourishing food is key to a child’s ability to focus and learn, and all invested donors and service providers involved feel that this is what drives the program’s success. “We are excited to be able to partner with MR-PM Community Services on providing nutritious meals to students in our community to help them reach their full potential,” says The Salvation Army Caring Place Executive Director, Darrell Pilgrim.

If you are interested in donating to the School Lunch Bag Program for the 2015/2016 school year, please contact Amelia Norrie at 604-463-8296 x 106 or email amelia.norrie@caringplace.ca